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The exhibit “Contemporary Collage” opened at the Lincoln Center Art Gallery in Fort Collins, CO on November 10th and included six of my collages.

For this exhibit I selected a group of collages from the series “Have Map Will Travel.” They deal with the kinds of relationships all my work addresses, color, shape, line and texture. I construct the collages on paper using my recycled prints (monotypes, collagraphs, etchings), photos (mine) and found paper.

In this ongoing series I add sections of maps, which I have photographed (I can’t bear to cut up old maps) and printed. The map shapes may or may not denote places where I have traveled. They help lead the eye in and around the collage.

Here are my collages and the gallery information.

Have Map Will Travel 2, collage, 22×30″

Have Map Will Travel 3, collage 22×30″

Have Map Will Travel 4, collage 30×22″

Have Map Will Travel 5, collage 30×22″

Have Map Will Travel 8, collage 24×20″

Have Map Will Travel 9, collage 24×20″

Contemporary Collage

November 10, 2017 – January 9, 2018

Reception: November 10 from 6-8 PM

Gallery hours: Tues – Sat, 12 – 6 PM

Lctix.com/exhibitions

Giustina Renzoni, (970) 416-2737

If you live near Fort Collins I hope you stop by to see the show which ends on January 9, 2018. Viewing art is always in season!

I will have several collages in an exhibit called “The Essential Nature” at the Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas. It opens with a reception on Saturday, September 2, 2017 from 7-9PM. The Bath House Cultural Center is at White Rock Lake, a delightful place to be on a balmy late summer evening.

The collages are from the “Have Map Will Travel” series. They combine pieces of my etchings, monotype and collagraph prints (recycled) and all kinds of found paper. Maps are there, too. The emphasis is on spatial, shape and color relationships. The story is your story.

Here is a sneak preview of the collages. Come see the real thing. I hope you can join me and a terrific group of artists showing a variety of work at the end of summer, almost fall.

I recently saw a fabulous exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. “Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion” is magical. This young Dutch designer marries art and science to exquisite effect. Her work made me look long and hard and think a lot about what fashion is all about, what the possibilities are.

Ms. Van Heren is inspired by art, architecture, science and technology. She describes each collection in terms of its influences. Is this “wearable art?” Maybe. The creations cover or encase the body and in fact, are presented in runway fashion shows, although I can’t imagine anyone walking in the shoes shown in the exhibit. A video shows they can! She utilizes traditional handwork (still) but also incorporates materials made with a 3-D printer, materials not associated with garment construction. The results are “other-worldly” and mesmerizing. There is a notable absence of color, which places greater emphasis on structure.

Sometimes she collaborates with other artists such as the architect Daniel Widrig and Jolan van der Wiel (shoes).

I will be exhibiting photographs from my “Underfoot” series at Ilume Gallerie in Dallas from June 17 – July 16, 2016. The show features a variety of subject matter from a diverse group of photographers.

Here are several from that series which focus attention on what lies beneath our feet. The streets and sidewalks everywhere show human presence in their markings and signage. Many have an abstract quality to them. Some are explicit some are not. They are always colorful.

I recently spent a long weekend in Greenville, SC with good friends Bruce and Alice Schlein. I was there to attend the opening of “Surfaces and Spaces: Photography of Cecelia Feld & Bruce Schlein”, our exhibit at the Pickens County Museum, about thirty miles from Greenville.

Bruce gave us a tour of the area between Greenville and Spartenburg which was once home to a large number of thriving textile mills, now mostly in various stages of decrepitude. The remains of these large buildings make interesting photographic subjects. Some of them are experiencing new life as condominium buildings.

Bradford Mills, for example, is undergoing renovation. The finished part is now the Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) with classrooms and exhibition spaces. It is a welcome addition to the Greenville Arts scene. The rest of the mill will be condos.

Beautiful old glass and window fittings in the GCCA make the space special.

Brandon Mills-Inside GCCA

GCCA

Another mill, Glendale Mills in Spartenburg, occupied a large area on the water at Glendale Shoals. The remains of one of the buildings and foundations of others give one a sense of how large this complex was.

Glendale Mills

Glendale Shoals

Glendale Shoals

Glendale Mills

Glendale Mills

Glendale Mills

So much for the Mills. Now, for the “More.”

Here are a few more of Bruce’s graffiti laden walls. As I notice and photograph markings and notations on streets and sidewalks near and far, Bruce’s discerning eye lights on walls and spaces filled with all kinds of drawings and symbols. In his photos the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but look closely at the details.

Bruce Schlein

Bruce Schlein

Bruce Schlein

Bruce Schlein

Bruce Schlein

Here are a few more of my “Underfoot” photos from the exhibit. They are a bit more minimal than Bruce’s.

Cecelia Feld

Cecelia Feld

Cecelia Feld

Cecelia Feld

Cecelia Feld

I hope those of you who live in the area will see the show which is up until August 20. Spend some time with cool art on a hot summer day.

I am thrilled to be sharing the walls of the Pickens County Museum with my good friend of many years (notice I didn’t say “old friend”) Bruce Schlein. How a guy from New Jersey and a gal from New York came to spend most of their adult life in the south is a story for another day.

We are joining forces to present an exhibit called Surfaces and Spaces: Photography of Cecelia Feld and Bruce Schlein, which shows the interest we share in documenting particular aspects of our environment. Both of us like surfaces. I like city streets (horizontal planes). Bruce goes more for walls and fences (verticals). He also has an uncanny knack and a well-honed eye for finding hidden and often forgotten spaces.

Bruce’s photos of graffiti on walls explode with color and drama. His interiors are transformed by the quality of light hitting them.

Here are a few from Bruce that will be in the show.

People and places, near and far, are my subjects. My “Underfoot” series of photos came about when I started to notice how much of our environment had signage or other markings on streets and sidewalks. Every city in every country I’ve traveled to shows this kind of human presence.

Like these.

Many of the marks have an abstract quality to them. Colorful lines, shapes and squiggles are drawn or painted on neutral backgrounds. They make me stop. What do they say about who was here?

My collages, assembled from collagraphs, monotypes, etchings and found paper, and mixed media acrylic paintings all deal with the nature of abstraction.

My work, whether in printmaking, painting or collage is about exploring relationships. Bits and pieces from my visual experiences bump against each other. There are references in my work to the textures, colors, lines and shapes of things in the real world. The layering or unfolding of shapes, punctuations or expanses of color or character of a line order the picture plane. The resulting abstract images often allude to natural forms.

#1269 Untitled, mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 30×30″, 2013

#1270 Untitled mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 30×30″, 2013

#1271 Untitled mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 30×30″, 2013

The relationship of visual components in my paintings and collages is similar to what happens in jazz. There are themes and variations, repetitive devices, tensions and releases, riffs, harmony and dissonance. Like a jazz piece, there is a lot of improvisation. At each step in painting or making a print I may ask myself, “what if…?”, or “why not…?”, or “how about…?”

What if I limit my color palette, what if I work in a more minimal way or, on the other hand, what about excessive exuberance? Large or small? Paint or paper? Or both. Anything can spark an idea – something seen, heard, imagined. The results are often unexpected, and even though I may have some idea of the general direction, like jazz, there can be many twists and turns along the way.

Sometimes I assemble the collage on painted paper. The acrylic painting weaves its way in, out, and around the collage. Negative space and positive space play games with one another. There are all kinds of things to discover in this group of collages called “Rational Exuberance.” This is a case of “more is more.”

Each step, expected, or unexpected, is the impetus to continue the exploration or the journey in this painting or print or the next one. Serendipity is the hallmark of my work. I love the unpredictability of working with paint, paper, ink and plate.

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is one of my favorite places. From the spring spectacle of a bazillion blooming tulips of Dallas Blooms, to the summer perennial beds bordered by annuals, through fall and the amazing Pumpkin Patch, there is something for everyone at any season. Winter tends to be less colorful, which means the lines and shapes of the huge trees can be better appreciated.

The spare landscape was enhanced this winter by the addition of twelve 25-foot Victorian gazebos depicting the 12 Days of Christmas. The original idea was suggested by Phyllis and Tom McCasland and executed by Dallas Opera production designer Tommy Bourgeous and Greg Blackburn (Dallas Stage Scenery). Two years later, here it is!

Nighttime was the perfect time to view the exhibit. The lights in the trees cast a soft glow along the paths of the garden as we wandered from #1 to #12. Music added to the charming scenes.

We got lucky, getting tickets for a night with balmy 60degree temperatures. You never know what December will bring in N.Texas.

Spectacular does not begin to describe the gazebos. The colors, the gem-like settings and the life-size costumed-figures, many with mechanical, moving parts, take your breath away.

Here they are!

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

A Partridge In A Pear Tree

A Partridge In A Pear Tree

On the second day – Two Turtle Doves

Two Turtle Doves

On the third day – Three French Hens

Three French Hens

On the fourth day – Four Calling Birds

Four Calling Birds

On the fifth day – Five Golden Rings

Five Golden Rings

On the sixth day – Six Geese A-Laying

Six Geese A-Laying

On the seventh day – Seven Swans A-Swimming

Seven Swans A-Swimming

On the eighth day – Eight Maids A-Milking

Eight Maids A-Milking

On the ninth day – Nine Ladies Dancing

Nine Ladies Dancing

On the tenth day – Ten Lords A-Leaping

Ten Lords A-Leaping

On the eleventh day – Eleven Pipers Piping

Eleven Pipers Piping

On the twelfth day – Twelve Drummers Drumming

Twelve Drummers Drumming

The exhibit will be up through January 4, 2015. I can’t promise snow, but I can promise you will enjoy this magical display.

This body of work consists of collages on paper and mixed media acrylic paintings. I recycle parts of my monotype and collagraph original prints and photographs with found paper from various sources. The collages and paintings are non-objective; the emphasis is on the relationship of line, color, shape and texture.

Working in one medium, i.e. monotype prints, usually leads me down another path because I’m always asking myself “what if?” What if I limit my color palette, what if I work in a more minimal way or, on the other hand, how about excessive exuberance? Large or small? Paint or paper? Or both. Anything can spark an idea – something seen, heard, imagined. There are always new avenues to explore.

Looking down can be rewarding. My “Underfoot” series of photos started when I had my head down and noticed the interesting abstract pattern of street and sidewalk marks made by construction workers. We seldom pay attention to such marks but they resonated with me and I began to photograph them wherever I traveled.

Combining my prints (re-purposed etchings, monotypes, collagraphs) with found paper to create collages took my work in a different direction. Cutting up and adding the “Underfoot” photos seemed like a logical next step. Their abstract quality echoes that of the other elements in the collage.

Sometimes I assemble the collage on painted paper. The acrylic painting weaves its way in and around the collage. Negative space and positive space play games with one another. The group of collages in this exhibit called “Springtime Suite” is colorful and energetic and was inspired by a visit to the Dallas Arboretum when it was ablaze with color.

I love to travel and have a large collection of paper maps. Remember those? I decided to use them in my collages. Instead of cutting them up I photographed them, enlarged segments in the computer and printed them out. I cut them up and they became part of the collage series “Have Map Will Travel.”

On November 1, 2014 I will be meeting and greeting at the opening reception for my next exhibit. It’s at Ilume Gallerie on Cedar Springs near Oak Lawn in Dallas.

The exhibit consists of collages on acrylic painted paper from the “Springtime Suite” series and collages from the “Have Map Will Travel” series. I’ll also be exhibiting several mixed media acrylic paintings on panel. It’s a high-energy show with lots of color and movement in each piece – so get your groove on!